Conventional calenders such as that described in DE-OS 27 31 119, Kayser et al., issued Jan. 25, 1979, typically comprise a vertical roller arrangement with matching, vertically-movable carrier-blocks. During adjustment, the carrier-block of the upper roller is supported by the piston of a hydraulic cylinder, while the lower roller is moved into and out of an operating position for roller separation by positioning nut-shaped support-elements on a suspended spindle. The roller separation is facilitated by an elevating-device, which has two hydraulic cylinders engaged with the upper and lower carder-blocks.
The suspended spindle is fastened to the carrier-block of the upper roller at the upper end of the roller arrangement and is provided with a carrier-nut that can be rotated by a motor. The carder-nut functions only when the rollers are retracted, thereby either resting on a bearing-surface of the upper carder-block or on an insert attached to the beating surface. However, by using this roller adjustment configuration, the rollers are strained by the weight of the suspended spindle.
Another conventional calender is described in DE-PS 22 24 875, Muiller et al., issued Dec. 13, 1973, wherein the carder-nut rests on a register of the upper carrier-block during adjustment. Through rotation, actuated by a motor, the height of the entire suspended spindle and support-elements can be reset. In addition, by using a brake to secure the carder-nut against rotation, the height of the carder-nut does not reset. However, as with the Kayser adjustment configuration, the rollers in the Muller configuration are also strained by the weight of the suspended spindle.
It would be desirable to use a combination of both roller adjustment configurations, where the rollers are not strained by the weight of the suspended spindle. Therefore, an improvement to the prior art would be to provide a calender having a combination of the above roller adjustment configurations, wherein the weight of the suspended spindle is lifted so that the rollers are not strained and the carder-nut is driven by a relatively small motor.